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Entries
Ray Charles Wants a Chicken Fried Steak: Backstage at Humphrey's
Brian Lewis didn’t hire the entertainment while serving as venue manager for Humphrey’s bar and concert showcase on Shelter Island. However, he feels the experience he gained there from 1990 to 1992 prepared him for booking and marketing jobs at …
Everyone Gets a Little
While complaining about Mozart and his treatment of tenors, I mentioned that Verdi may be the composer who wrote the most great music for each voice type. It could be that Verdi wrote 28 operas and there's bound to be …
Rock'n Rob'n: Think Kate Bush Gone Solo Acoustic
Hundreds of Placebo fans submitted video of themselves lip-synching the band’s cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” for a planned video consisting entirely of fan-made clips. 21 year-old singer/songwriter Roberta Hofer, AKA Rob'n, was among around a dozen …
SpragueLand Studio Catalog Nears 300 Releases
Local jazz stalwart Peter Sprague has owned and operated his recording studio SpragueLand since the late 1990s. In that time, over 250 albums have been recorded there. SpragueLand is a full service, totally professional studio with the added esthetic benefit …
Red Herrings
You squeeze behind the wheel before noticing that someone’s slipped a flyer beneath one of the wipers. Especially in North Park. For the last month or so, the nearby sidewalk’s been increasingly splattered with postcards announcing various performances. Apparently my …
Fine, I'll do it Your Way
I did manage to stop whining and sing it the way Mozart wrote it on Saturday evening. The concert of highlights from Don Giovanni was an amazing value. The room was intimate and paneled with wood. The voices were big …
Castellanos, Jazz on Tap at Dizzy's
Trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos will bring a special ensemble to Dizzy's this Friday, July 1. The band will include his regular pianist, Irving Flores, Lorraine Castellanos on vocals, bassist Evona Wascinski, and on percussion...tap dancer Claudia Gomez Vorce. These days, the …
Scott Wilson FTP'd His Yoga Girl
"I'm releasing a new single this week called Yoga Girl," says Scott Wilson. "I'll probably be shooting a video for it, as soon as I can find a yoga studio that doesn't pay attention to lyrics." The tune includes an …
Berkley Hart's Album Release Gigs July 8 & 9
Folky duo Berkley Hart will play two release parties at Swedenborg Hall for their new full-length Crow; July 8 (with pop duo the Lovebirds opening) and July 9 (with rock duo Bug Guts). “We had originally wanted to call the …
New Local Recording Studio Must Be Delirious
As the music industry continues to be shaken up by the decline of traditional record labels in favor of DIY recording and self-marketing, several local recording studios have found themselves developing their own record labels as well. One new facility …
Maren Parusel and Touché at Bar Pink
I got to Bar Pink (3829 30th Street, North Park) before 9pm to beat the $10 cover charge. After grabbing a $5 vodka tonic and taking a few pictures, I noticed the eclectic mix of people who started to come …
Mozart Lazy?
I've been rehearsing for a small concert of selections from Mozart's Don Giovanni. That's pronounced Joh-van-nee, not Geo-van-nee. Please, let's be a tad bit refined. I'm singing three pieces as the tenor Don Ottavio. In learning some of the sung …
Gregory Page's New/Vintage All-Star Video
Gregory Page filmed a video for the song "That's You" (from the album My True Love) at the Ideal Hotel downtown on Sunday night, June 12. With a 1930s motif, his backing group for this clip consisted of bass, piano, …
Charles McPherson's Jaw-Dropping Virtuosity
Stalking the stage with intensity, Charles McPherson snapped his fingers briskly and tore into "Crazeology" (a bebop staple based on the harmonic sequence of "I Got Rhythm") in lockstep with trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos. The alto saxophonist has arrived at a …
Adam Lambert Joined Local Onstage
“I had American Idol's Adam Lambert show up to my dinky little weekly Sunday night gig at the Turf Supper Club this last weekend,” local singer/songwriter J.D. Boucharde tells the Reader. “He got up and did a song with me, …
Jeff Kaiser Doesn't Need Permission
When free jazz trumpeter / electronics specialist Jeff Kaiser wants to put out a record, he doesn't have to shop demos around or hope for corporate approval. Kaiser moved to San Diego four years ago, having spent a long time …